Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514428
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JANUARY 2024 7 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. The Green Paper proposes a tariff for domestic users who use their own boreholes to abstract groundwater to use for domestic purposes and to water their garden lawns or fill their swimming pools. The tariff will be set at a higher level than the tariff applied by the Water Services Corporation for domestic consumers. Why? This is not just a matter of protect- ing the water table but also a public health issue. It is always recommend- able to use the national water sup- ply which is monitored and tested according to established parameters when this water comes in direct con- tact with your body… The safety risk is even greater especially when ground water from the water table is also used in showers… Will bowsers selling ground water to fill pools and water lawns become redundant? Bowsers fall under the category of commercial operators that will be expected to pay the tariff but will be eligible for incentives if they adopt sustainable practices… They can still operate in a sustainable way… for example, some bowsers already transport rainwater instead of ground water while others are used by farm- ers to transport water from one place to another. There can still be a place for them. But there are uses which are safe for the public in terms of public health and which are also en- vironmentally sustainable and others which are not. So, what we are doing is driving this sector into a more sus- tainable direction. What about commercial op- erators like beverage com- panies who abstract ground water to sell it as mineral water in plastic bottles? One of the main bottlers has already shifted to tap water after finding that this makes greater economic sense since tap water quality is more stable. Data from metered boreholes shows that there are other commercial oper- ators who abstract more ground water than beverage companies. What we are telling all commercial operators is that they can still use this resource in a sustainable way. If they do so they will benefit from rebates on the tariff paid. What we would like to see are more measures based on corporate social responsibility. For example, if a company which extracts ground wa- ter also invests in rainwater collection infrastructure as another leading bev- erage company is doing, they should be incentivised to do so… Farmers will still benefit from an allocation of a quota of 'free' water based on factors such as land area, the crops cultivated and farm size. But they will have to pay for any amount they use over and above this quota. Will this measure encourage farmers to be less wasteful with regards to irrigation? There is no agriculture without water. Moreover, one should ask where does ground water come from? It mostly comes from rainwater which ends up on farms before seeping into the wa- ter table. If fields are built up, we will also lose the water absorbed into the ground. Moreover, data from metered boreholes shows that most farmers are using ground water in an efficient way... Many have also invested heav- ily in drip irrigation and rainwater col- lection. Still, it is a misconception that ground water comes for free, because there are still energy costs involved. We calculate that it costs a farmer between 25 cents and 40 cents per cubic metre. This means that the less ground water they abstract, the more money they save. Does the government intend to issue another registra- tion scheme to regularise illegal boreholes in view of the new permitting system? The Green Paper does not propose a new registration exercise. The meas- ures contemplated will only apply to existing registered boreholes. The on- ly difference is that instead of simply registering the borehole infrastruc- ture as they did, operators will also require an abstraction permit which will regulate the volume of water ab- stracted from their boreholes. In this way we will be in a better position to promote the efficient use of the re- source... However, enforcement in this sector is not easy. We are talk- ing of a 15cm diameter hole which is covered by a rock. The Green Paper proposes that anyone included in this register will have to exhibit a licence plate number. This will facilitate en- forcement as whenever inspectors see anyone extracting ground water, they will also be able to check their licence plate and the corresponding permits. We are also exploring the use of satellite imagery to for example identify green patches in the summer months. The Maltese still shun tap water due to its taste thus making them more likely to drink water in plastic bottles often filled with purified ground water. Will this change? The taste problem results from the use of chlorine, a disinfectant used to prevent the growth of bacteria in the distribution system… The dosing with chlorine has already been reduced by around 30% in the past years… But people are under the misconception that the taste is related to the desalin- isation process and some even resort to the use of home-based RO systems thinking that this would improve the taste even if this is not the case. In such cases one should be using a filtering system rather than an RO system. The ultimate aim of the WSC is to ensure that all localities have access to water of the same quality... The Agency gives free advice to con- sumers through its auditors on which filtering equipment is best to use at home and how to use water efficient- ly. We are not telling people not to wash but to use water efficiently by for example reducing the flow of wa- ter from their shower. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY